A NEW BOOK BY STEVE STRAUB
How much
does scoring
first really
matter?
First to Score examines more than 26,000 Major League Baseball games across 11 seasons to answer one simple question- and uncover what the first run reveals about winning baseball.
Receive these bonuses when you sign up!
1. Current 2026 MLB Team records (road and home) when scoring first and winning.
2. Current 2026 Top 10 Starting Pitchers records when their team scores first and they win.
3. Final 2026 MLB regular season First Score and Win Game stats for Playoff teams.
4. Early notification when book is available.
Expected Publication - January 2027
Expected Publication - January 2027
THE CENTRAL THEME
67.9%
League FSWG™ (First Score Win Game) percent
across the 2022 - 2025 seasons.
The first run doesn't
decide the game.
It changes the
conversation.
From 2022 through 2025, league FSWG™ rates remained remarkably consistent. This book looks beyond the headline number to ask when the advantage strengthens, what weakens it, and what winning teams do after getting on the board first.
INSIDE THE BOOK
Three questions drive the research.
01
02
03
Why does the first run
matter?
When does the advantage
change?
How do winning teams
exploit first scores?
The psychology, momentum, and game context behind scoring first—and why strong FSWG™ performance repeatedly appears among playoff-caliber teams.
First to Score examines timing, home-field advantage, divisional games, extra
innings, and other situations where the value of scoring first can shift dramatically.
Starting pitching, bullpens, shutdowns, playoff baseball, and championship
team construction are viewed through the FSWG™ framework.
THE RESEARCH
Built from games,
not anecdotes.
The analysis follows more than 26,000 MLB games across eleven seasons, looking at league-wide performance, team patterns, pitcher impact, divisional play, extra innings, playoffs, and championship teams.
The goal is not to predict a single game. It is to understand the recurring patterns that appear after one team scores first.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE RESEARCH
26,000+
MLB games analyzed
11
seasons in primary dataset
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Steve Straub is the author of First to Score.
The project began with a straightforward baseball question: if a team scores first, how often does that advantage hold - and what separates the teams that consistently convert to wins from the teams that do not This book is presented by Sparkline Sports, which collects sports data and conducts research and analysis.
